New year, new diet

It’s that time of the year again when dreams are refreshed, when all things are possible and our resolve to become our best selves is uber strong.

So now is the perfect time to rethink and restart your diet.

Ketogenic meals

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The latest fad in dieting is the Ketogenic diet, which allows, in fact encourages, eating fat but prohibits eating carbs and sugar. Some huge celebrities have shared success stories on weight loss using this diet. Kim Kardashian reportedly used this to shed excess fat after giving birth.

The way this works is it makes the body produce small fuel molecules called “ketones”, an alternative “fuel” for the body, produced if you eat very few carbs and only moderate amounts of protein (excess protein can also be converted to blood sugar). When blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply, the body looks to the ketones, which are produced in the liver, from fat.

So on this diet, your entire body switches its fuel supply to run almost entirely on fat. Insulin levels become very low, and fat burning increases dramatically. As it becomes easier to access your fat stores, they are more easily burned off.

It’s no wonder that the diet has become a hit with Filipinos, with keto support groups even being formed on Facebook. How can a Pinoy resist an eat-all-you-can diet of lechon, chicharon and liempo?!

Personally though, I’ve never tried it. First because the name sounds like Ketong (Tagalog for leprosy). Second because I love chocolate and wine too much—I need my sugar!

For those who would like to commit to this diet though, here’s some good news. You can now order ketogenic meals from Feed 5000, a healthy food delivery service.

For P2000 per week, you get Bulletproof coffee, lunch and dinner. “Because Keto meals fill you up, many feel they don’t need snacks. But it’s easy to snack on chicharon, cheese or eggs,” Chef Len Santos-Ding explains.

Chef Len Santos-Ding

Calorie-counted diet

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If you are not so keen on Keto, though, Feed 5000 also has other healthy meal programs. “We offer both calorie counted meals and Keto meals. In both, we always use good quality ingredients and stay away from processed food, preservatives, MSG, and instant products,” Chef Len confirmed.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks are delivered to your home and prices will depend on the program you choose: For 1200 calories, the weekly program is P2000; for 1500 calories, P2,250; and for 1800 calories, P2,500.

Paradigm shift

For those of us who have reached that age where health becomes a daily topic of conversation, these meals prove essential in one’s lifestyle.

Chef Len shares her own story on why she started Feed 5000. “When my son was born, I became very strict with feeding him real, healthy food because I started to read up on how food can heal. Unfortunately, like a lot of parents, I focused on his health while neglecting ours. My husband and I ate out a lot especially when our schedules get crazy. And it took a toll on our health. I saw how diet food delivery can help us eat well while still on the go. The problem with a lot of diet food delivery we tried, though, is I knew we were still eating processed food even if they lessened the portions. It’s still empty calories. It’s not going to keep us healthy in the long run. So my husband suggested we do it ourselves.”

Chef Len stresses that good food heals: “At Feed 5000, we don’t only focus on you losing weight but also for you to be healthier. For the calorie counted meals, it’s power packed for maximum nutrition. Some clients say even their skin condition improved on the diet. Keto diet, on the other hand, has been proven to lower blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol levels. It’s exciting to see that finally people are realizing that fat is not the problem.”

She is quick to add, though, the importance of discipline. “Like in any lifestyle change, it takes discipline especially while your body is still adapting. Of course, having the food delivered to your doorstep makes it easier.”

Delicious diet

Chef Len says the bigger challenge in fighting calories is the ability to do it long term. That is why her diet meal delivery aims not only to feed customers but to educate them on knowing what food is good for you and what are the right portions.

Best of all, with a variety of flavors that she presents in each week’s delivery, she hopes to show people that diet food need not taste like paper. “We also make sure that you discover new flavors so you’ll get excited about your meals. Diet food doesn’t have to mean it’s flavorless,” she emphasized.

Get with the program

As we go back to work this coming week, it’s good to know that by the mere click of a finger on Facebook or by a simple phone call, you can have healthy yet delicious calorie-counted meals delivered to your doorstep.

Who knows, you might just lose that beer belly and show off a beach body by summer.

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